Process started for new Lee Football Coach

Len HaywardMidland Reporter-Telegram

Published 7:00 pm, Sunday, April 19, 2009

The process to hire the 12th head football coach in Lee High School football history officially began late Thursday afternoon when the job was posted on the Midland Independent School District website, and other various job boards across the state.

Now, the task for MISD Executive Director of Athletics Todd Howey is to come up with a candidate late in the school year following a controversial time involving the program.

"This time of year is tough," Howey said. "Coaches that might look at this job under different circumstances won't because they don't want to leave their kids this time of year. They are fixing to start spring football. They've got their staff in place. It's a hard call for some coaches to make that might otherwise look at this position."

The job became vacant on Tuesday when Quisenberry and MISD came to a separation agreement that includes Quisenberry's resignation after he had been put on administrative leave with pay on March 31.

Howey said on Sunday that he has already talked to a handful of coaches for the job, but did not reveal any names.

Howey said he faces a time crunch and said he will be up front with the candidates about the state of the program and what they will be coming into. But he said with all of that he is confident the right candidate will be found.

"I won't go into details of the incident but I will tell them here are the circumstances in that we have a community that is somewhat divided in a lot of areas about this program," Howey said. "I will just lay it on the table and say here it is."

Howey said one of the key elements to the job description is that the candidate must have head coaching experience at the Class 4A and 5A level.

Howey said that was included in the posting to help keep the applicant pool smaller than normal had that qualification not been on there.

"There's a lot of quality 3A coaches out there without a doubt," Howey said. "We don't want to eliminate anybody, but yet you don't want to open it up to the whole world because you don't want to spend your time going through applications."

Howey added that ties to the West Texas area will be beneficial for the candidate. It is not a requirement, he said, but it will be important for the new coach's comfort level.

"Our environment is obviously different that it is in the Metroplex area or than it is in the Houston area," Howey said. "That's not saying we are not going to hire somebody from that area but I think West Texas is a unique area. I think that's an important ingredient to have, more than anything just for the comfort for the new person coming in."

Howey said he will do much of the leg work in the hiring process as there will not be a search committee to pare down applications, as was the case when Quisenberry was hired in 2004.

It's likely that the Rebels will not participate in spring practice, which was scheduled to start later this week.